Bette led the way and selected a table to sit. Dan sat across from her.

Daniel:  This actually looks pretty good. I am hungry. It’s been a while since 7 this morning.

Bette:  I’m sorry… maybe we should have given you a snack at 10.

Daniel:  Oh, I’m fine. I didn’t realize that I was hungry until we got here to the cafeteria. I think just smelling the food reminded me that I was hungry.

Bette:  Well, I packed a snack of some apples and peanut butter when you get out this afternoon. I set out the spaghetti sauce for tonight. But if we are too late getting home, we will stop and have some dinner somewhere and have the spaghetti tomorrow for lunch.

Daniel:  How’s your food?

Bette:  Well, it’s not as good as your mom’s but it’s not bad for cafeteria food. This tuna salad is very good.

Daniel:  Mine is good. Or maybe I’m just hungry.

Bette:  I wonder why they record everything on your tray?

Daniel:  They are keeping track of how much food was selected and theoretically consumed versus how much food was prepared. They calculate how much was wasted so they can adjust how much food of each item to prepare in the future. If they prepare say 25 servings of something and only 2 people select it, well they know to delete that from the menu. But if 24 people select it, then they have the preparation amount about right. So, when it comes up again, they know about how much to prepare and what to prepare. Since this is take what you want place, it is assumed that you won’t pick something that you have no desire to eat.

Bette: That makes sense. But I would assume that during the school year, there would be a lot more selections.

Daniel:  Probably.  How many students go here?

Bette:  I would presume about 500 to 600 students. And another 100 staff people. That is a lot of people to feed every day.

Daniel:  It would be nice if they provided a snack in the afternoon. If you do any of the afterschool activities, you going to be starving by the time you get home.

Bette:  Well, if they don’t, we will have to pack a snack for you every day. Some cheese and crackers, fruit, peanut butter sandwiches, peanut butter with apples. Something to get you through to dinner time.